Today's Ithaca Journal has another letter from another Ithacite, also making the "blank check" analogy, hinting at "military industrial complex" motivations and blaming Israel for unreast in the mideast:
I'm beginning to notice a lot of similarities between the war on terrorism and the war on Communism. It's now starting to look like a blank check is being given to the Pentagon as military budgets approach and exceed Cold War era levels. But the main comparison I see is that everything is justified by the "war" instead of standing up to public scrutiny, which is essential for a participatory democracy that many of us hold as ideal. Thus in the name of the war on terrorism, policies are enacted that the government and other powerful interests had hoped to enact for other reasons.****For example, military aid to Columbia to counter antigovernment armed forces there has skyrocketed because we are fighting "terrorists." When in reality it is more likely that we are trying to protect Occidental Petroleum's oil fields and pipeline. ****On a related issue, I read a recent opinion column in the New York Times by a military historian on the inevitable negative consequences of civilian killings during ...the current Israeli-Palestinian War ...these tit for tat killings will continue until the underlying causes are remedied; the most obvious one being a just peace between Israel and Palestine.
According to Google, the author, Tom Joyce, is a a professional paperhanger, and local union wonk.
I'm starting to wonder if we aren't seeing the start of a wave of Democratic "talking points" (as distributed through big labor) letters.
If so, once again, Ithaca leads the way on liberal thought.
Ithaca is the City of Evil.
No doubt the talking point faxes, with made-to-order letters to the editor and "seminar callers" to talk radio, will escalate as we approach election day.
Hold on to your hats people they are just gearing up! We have seen nothing yet.
Ithaca is the City of Evil.